


I Want to Fall in Love in an Aquarium!

by snowharasho



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Awkward highschoolers on a date, Fluff, Komaeda appears nonetheless!, M/M, Too much fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-22 23:17:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19138828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowharasho/pseuds/snowharasho
Summary: Naegi invites Ishimaru to the aquarium for a date. What could go wrong?





	I Want to Fall in Love in an Aquarium!

**Author's Note:**

> (This was written by my sister)
> 
> A wise man named Hinata Hajime once said, "Be the change you want to see in the world", or something like that, so here I am with some super fluffy Naeishi. They are so cute, please save me.
> 
> I started this a long time ago, intending for it to be a short fic... but it ended up being this long because I had no idea how to end it and kept adding stuff. Thanks to Komaeda, I managed to end it. I hope you will like it!

“Naegi-kun! You’re 6 minutes late!” Ishimaru greeted his friend who had just arrived at their meeting place. Naegi bent over to catch his breath from the dash he made from the station, which still wasn’t enough to make him reach in time.

“I’m sorry, Ishimaru-kun, I forgot to bring my card so I had to run back and get it…” Naegi chuckled sheepishly, bowing in apology.

“You should always check your bag before you leave! Let this be a lesson for next time!” Despite his reprimanding tone, Ishimaru was smiling and had his hands outstretched, his eyes were glittering as they stood in front of their destination - or  _ date spot, _ as Naegi would have called it - the aquarium. Naegi looked up and couldn’t help but smile seeing him in such a good mood. 

“Sorry. Did you wait long?”   
  
“Well, not really. Only for about 30 minutes or so.” Ishimaru replied. Naegi felt guilt creeping up on him as he processed what he had just heard.

_ That’s a lot?!  _

“Um, Ishimaru-kun, why don’t we head inside? It’s kind of hot out here.” Naegi suggested, taking note of the fact that Ishimaru was still wearing his school uniform, blazer and all. On the other hand, Naegi was simply wearing a casual polo shirt and khakis. In the past few weeks, Naegi had been pestering him to get some less-formal clothes for situations like this, but Ishimaru was as stubborn as ever. 

Ishimaru enthusiastically expressed his approval and they walked through the big glass doors to the aquarium. Naegi glanced over in Ishimaru’s direction and watched him take in the sights - from what he observed, it seemed like Ishimaru had never been to an aquarium before, which was one of the reasons why Naegi decided to invite him here. The hall monitor’s mouth formed an ‘o’ as he gazed around the blue, ocean-themed wallpaper and sculptures of various fishes on display at the entrance. His eyes were eventually drawn to a small plaque on one of the dolphin statues. 

“Naegi-kun, look! It says here that Kibougamine Aquarium has the largest dolphin show in all of Japan! And there’s a showing later in the afternoon today!” Ishimaru pointed out eagerly. Of course, Naegi had done his own research and the famous dolphin show was another reason why he wanted to bring Ishimaru here. 

Feigning ignorance, Naegi asked, “Do you wanna watch it later?”

“Of course! It would be a good experience to learn more about the dolphins! Did you know that they are a highly intelligent species? Oh! And that despite living in water, they are actually a type of mammal known as cetacean! Isn’t that interesting?” 

“I think I remember reading that somewhere before.” Naegi chuckled watching his friend ramble about everything he knew about dolphins so excitedly. “Oh, we should get the tickets!”   
  
“You’re right! I got carried away.” Ishimaru let out an audible gasp at his carelessness and hastily made his way to the counter with Naegi. Luckily, the aquarium had just opened and there were not many people in line, and they paid for their tickets in a matter of minutes.

“Ishimaru-kun, let’s go!” Naegi reached out his hand and Ishimaru regarded it for a few seconds, before taking a deep breath and grasping his hand with his own. Naegi felt his heart skip a beat - he didn’t expect Ishimaru to actually hold his hand like that. 

“L-let’s go, Naegi-kun.” 

Naegi gave Ishimaru’s hand a tight squeeze as they passed through the turnstile. As soon as they were out of the dark corridor, Ishimaru gasped. In the middle of the room was a long cylindrical tank that stretched onto the floor above, filled with hundreds of colourful corals and tropical fishes. Ishimaru was rooted to the spot, mesmerised by the dazzling colours and graceful movements of the fish. Naegi dashed towards the tank and pressed his face against the glass.

“Ishimaru-kun, you should come closer!” He called, and Ishimaru was snapped out of his trance and brisk-walked towards his friend. 

“Naegi-kun, I’ve never seen anything like this before…” Ishimaru whispered, gazing upon the magical sight he had only seen in documentaries and textbooks. 

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Naegi whispered back, his heart swelling at seeing Ishimaru so… happy. Naegi turned to watch the fishes with his partner.   
  
“You’re amazing…”

“Huh?   
  
“It’s amazing indeed, Naegi-kun!” Ishimaru exclaimed, flustered. As if he had gotten over his awe, he pointed towards another corridor. “Shall we continue?”   
  
Amazed and caught off guard by Ishimaru’s sudden burst of energy, Naegi widened his eyes and nodded. Somehow, he got the feeling that he had missed something. Nonetheless, he was glad to see Ishimaru enjoying himself. Taking ahold of Ishimaru’s hand again, he nodded and they walked over to the corridor. If Naegi remembered correctly, the Underwater Tunnel was in that direction! It was his favourite part of the aquarium and he could hardly contain his excitement as well. However, he steeled himself to remain calm so that he could see Ishimaru’s reaction to it.

As the tunnel came into view, Naegi snuck a peek at Ishimaru and giggled when he saw his eyes widening. Before them was a glass tunnel that stretched on and on, fishes, rays and even sharks swimming all around them. Ishimaru looked around in bewilderment, before turning to his partner.   
  
“N-Naegi-kun, it’s as if we’re underwater!” 

“Isn’t it?” Naegi replied fondly, and Ishimaru found himself laughing along. 

“Aquariums are really amazing, Naegi-kun! I can’t believe I’ve been missing out all my life!”

The pair continued walking along the tunnel, Ishimaru stopping to read every sign and give his own input, with Naegi listening intently while pointing out the marine life along the way.

“Look, that manta ray’s face is kind of cute.” Naegi tapped Ishimaru on the shoulder to point at a ray stuck to the glass. 

“Is it? I don’t really think it’s that cute,” Ishimaru added, squatting to observe it. Naegi found Ishimaru’s deeply focused expression even cuter, and sneakily snapped a photo, except it made a loud shutter noise as soon as he clicked the button. The not-so-sneaky noise startled Ishimaru, who turned to Naegi with wide eyes. “Naegi-kun, what did you do?”   
  
“Ahaha, I’m sorry, I took a picture,” Naegi replied, showing his friend the photo he took. Ishimaru studied it for a second before dramatically recoiling in shock.

“I was frowning!” 

“You looked really cute, Ishimaru-kun…” Naegi laughed sheepishly, looking to the side and scratching his cheek. Ishimaru made a disgruntled noise and fiddled with something.

_ Snap! _

A bright flash startled the shorter boy. “Wha! Ishimaru-kun, did you just-” Naegi exclaimed, staring back at Ishimaru, holding his own phone, with the camera pointed straight at him.

“There, now we’re even!” Ishimaru proclaimed proudly, showing off his own photo that he took of Naegi. It was unfocused and blurry and obnoxiously bright, and Naegi had the dumbest expression on his face, while the manta ray looked like it was sucking the back of his head. The subject of the photo burst out laughing, clutching his stomach to control his laughter. 

“T-this is great, Ishimaru-kun! Ahahaha!” 

“W-what’s so funny?” Ishimaru muttered, slightly offended, looking over his photo to find out just what made his partner burst into hysterics. 

“It’s nothing, you’re just really cute!” After his fit of laughter had subsided, Naegi tiptoed and gave Ishimaru a peck on the cheek. “Come on, let’s continu- Ishimaru-kun?!”

Ishimaru choked and let out a loud noise that was something between a gasp and a scream. His face was completely red, and his mouth was opening and closing as if he was struggling to say something, but nothing could escape from his mouth. Realising what he had done, Naegi felt a blush creeping onto his face as well.

“N-naegi-kun…” Ishimaru hunched over, grabbing onto Naegi’s hand tightly with both hands. “Let’s move on… shall we…?” He wasn’t looking up. 

_ He’s totally deflated... _

Naegi nodded and pulled his partner closer to him with his other hand, so that Ishimaru’s face was resting against his chest. He felt bold now and closed his eyes. For a brief moment, Naegi basked in the romantic-ness of his circumstances. He could feel Ishimaru’s breath against his chest, his heartbeat, his spiky hair prickling his neck- 

“N-nnmph-” Ishimaru pulled back to speak, “Naegi-kun, I can’t see the fishes.”   
  
“O-oh, sorry.”

“I-it’s alright.” 

Ishimaru took some deep breaths to clear his mind and resumed holding Naegi’s hand. In the aftermath of the too-short lovey-dovey moment, the hall monitor felt a little more stiff than before, and Naegi worried that he might have startled him a bit  _ too _ much. The pair walked in awkward silence for a few moments.

“Oh, look, there’s a shark.” Naegi pointed out.

“Yes, that is indeed a shark.” Came the instant and sharp reply.

Naegi decided to give up trying to make small talk, but the fact that Ishimaru was still gripping (very tightly) onto his hand quelled his worries somewhat. Anyway, it was just nice feeling Ishimaru beside him.

They strolled through the tunnel and made their way to the end, Ishimaru making some small comments here and there (and still stopped to read all the signs), and eventually returned back to the central room with the giant cylindrical tank. Ishimaru seemed like he remembered something, and turned to face Naegi, although he still couldn’t look directly at him.

“What time is it?”

“Huh? Let me check-” Naegi whipped out his phone, “Oh, it’s almost 12. Are you hungry? We could go grab a bite first, but we should go early before the crowd comes-”   
  
Ishimaru seemed to regain some of his composure, for he puffed up his chest and had a confident smirk on his face. “Not to worry, Naegi-kun! I made rice balls for lunch!” He set down his backpack and carefully took out a container neatly wrapped in cloth. Although Ishimaru was diligent, Naegi never expected him to prepare lunch for him, and was taken aback by surprise.

“Ishimaru-kun, you’re amazing! There’s a cafe area near the dolphins, we can eat there!” Ishimaru blushed from the compliment and allowed himself to be dragged to the outdoor cafe area, which was beginning to get crowded. Naegi quickly ran towards an empty table and gestured for Ishimaru to come over, which he did. Carefully placing the lunchbox down, Ishimaru put down his bag and sat on an empty seat.

“Oh, but we gotta buy something if we wanna eat here. Do you want a drink?” Naegi offered, and Ishimaru frowned at the thought of having to spend more money.

“I brought water though…” Ishimaru mumbled, taking two bottles of water out from his backpack.  _ He brought one for him too? _

“Well, we’re kind of… stealing customers if we don’t buy anything?” Naegi tried to reason, though he didn’t exactly want to buy anything either. “And it’s already nice enough they let us eat our own food?”

Ishimaru furrowed his eyebrows. “Alright then. Um, I’ll share whatever Naegi-kun is having!” Feeling satisfied with his answer, Ishimaru’s expression relaxed. Naegi, however, became extremely flustered. The lucky student smiled and headed over to the counter to purchase something. He knew why Ishimaru wanted to share something - he didn’t have that much spare change to be tossing around carelessly - but Naegi’s heart was racing at the thought that he might get to… indirectly… kiss...

Pushing the  _ questionable _ thoughts out of his mind, Naegi decided to get a fruit punch, assuming that Ishimaru wouldn’t like anything too sweet or fizzy… until he took a sip and realised that fruit punch  _ was _ sweet and fizzy. But at least it was fruity? Well, if Ishimaru didn’t like it, he could just drink it all, plus it was perfect to beat the heat! The cafe was outdoors, and it was noon, so while there was some shade from beach umbrellas it was still quite warm. Naegi brought the drink to the table before he realised that he had  _ accidentally _ forgot to take two straws.  

Upon seeing his friend return, Ishimaru grinned. “Naegi-kun, welcome back! Please enjoy the meal that I have prepared for us!” Upon realising that the box was still wrapped up, Naegi wondered if Ishimaru was waiting for him to open it. 

Naegi put the drink down, “It’s fruit punch,” and slowly unwrapped the box. Ishimaru had wrapped it tight, and Naegi fumbled with the knot before it finally unravelled. In the meantime, Ishimaru had decided to take a sip of the drink -  _ Naegi felt his chest thumping faster _ \- and his face instantly twisted to a scowl.

“I was wondering why they call it a ‘fruit punch’… It’s punching me in the teeth.” Ishimaru mumbled, clear disapproval in his voice.

“Ahaha… I didn’t expect it to be so sweet either!”

“Well… Drink lots of water later, Naegi-kun!” Smiling, Ishimaru gently pushed the drink back towards the shorter boy.  _ Looks like he would get the fruit punch all to himself... _

Naegi nodded as he slowly opened the box. Upon seeing the contents, he gasped. In the box were rice balls that were molded into star shapes instead of the usual triangular ones! After seeing Naegi’s reaction, Ishimaru explained, “I managed to make them into stars, just like starfish! I also substituted the normal rice for brown rice because it’s more healthy. Of course, I mixed in vegetables with the salmon for a balanced meal!” 

“It looks great!” Naegi picked up a star and admired it. The tips were a bit wonky but identifiable, and making a star was no easy feat - Naegi had tried it before with Ishimaru and they would always crumble and lose their shape - Ishimaru had improved a lot! Ishimaru watched with bated breath as Naegi took a bite.

“So, how was it?”

“It’sh great!” Naegi exclaimed, before getting chided by Ishimaru for talking with his mouth full. However, Ishimaru had a soft smile on his face and soon joined in on the meal. Eventually, they had finished most of the rice balls, but Naegi noticed there was still a differently-shaped one left over. It looked like a heart? Ishimaru seemed to be avoiding it, taking sips of his water as he occasionally glanced over at Naegi.

“Is that for me?” Naegi asked, pointing at the remaining rice ball. “The heart-”  
  
“Yes! It is a special one I created for Naegi-kun!” Ishimaru sputtered, “H-however, it is not a heart. It’s supposed to be a fish.”

“It looks like a heart thou-”   
  
“Naegi-kun, it’s going to get cold if you keep talking! You should eat it soon! Ahaha!” 

Naegi felt his heart thumping rapidly in his chest. Ishimaru was getting embarrassed as well, his eyes darting nervously from the rice ball to Naegi to _ anywhere but Naegi _ .

“Okay, I’m gonna eat it!” Naegi took a bite of the fish(?)-shaped rice ball as Ishimaru stared at him with a tense expression. A familiar burst of aroma wafted from the filling as Naegi’s eyes widened.  _ T-this flavour! _   
  
“It’s delicious!” Naegi said in between bites as he wolfed down the curry-flavoured rice ball. 

Ishimaru relaxed his posture and let out a breath he had been holding in. “I-I’m glad you like it! I tried putting your favourite food into the rice ball!” 

“Ishimaru-kun, next time can you make more?” Naegi asked, leaning across the table and grasping Ishimaru’s hand with both of his, staring straight into his eyes.

“Uwah! I’ve said it before, but curry isn’t exactly healthy! You can’t eat too much of it!” 

“But it tastes so good!”

“Thank you, but flattery will get you nowhere!” 

Relenting, Naegi reclined back into his chair. “Okay, but you gotta teach me how to make it! If I work up a sweat cooking, I’ll burn some calories, right?”

Ishimaru’s mouth curved into a wry smile as he twitched an eyebrow. “I don’t think that’s how it works…” 

“But it’ll be fun!” 

“Well, I wouldn’t mind cooking with Naegi-kun again sometime…” Ishimaru looked to the side, then back at Naegi. He rolled up his sleeves to check the time on his watch, and his expression lit up. “Ah, it’s almost time for the dolphin show!” Ishimaru exclaimed cheerily.  _ So he had been looking forward to that! _

Naegi grinned, closing the lunchbox and trying to wrap it the way Ishimaru had. “It’s just across from here, you see that big area with the seats?”

Ishimaru followed Naegi’s gaze towards the giant semicircle of seats surrounding a giant pool. “Oh!” Hurriedly, Ishimaru packed the lunchbox and his bottles of water into his bag and stood up. Naegi slurped the rest of his drink down and immediately regretted it. 

_ Cold! _   
  
He tossed the empty cup into the trash before realising that Ishimaru had already started walking towards the seats, and upon noticing that Naegi was lagging behind, waved and beckoned him over excitedly. 

“Sorry! I was looking for a bin.”

“No worries! I should have waited for you.” Ishimaru laughed. His eyes were sparkling and Naegi had to resist the strong urge to kiss his cheeks again. The shorter boy chased after his friend who waited for him to catch up, and they continued walking towards the giant pool. As they got closer, they caught a glimpse of grey in the water and Ishimaru craned his neck to get a better look. 

“I can see it! Look over there!” Ishimaru cheerily exclaimed once the creature was in view, and Naegi watched as a dolphin swam past gracefully. Ishimaru brisk-walked to the glass to get a closer look, and one of the trainers greeted him and started telling the pair about one of the dolphins. 

“This one’s very friendly and gentle,” the dolphin trainer spoke, whistling to call over one of the dolphins. It swam right up to the edge of the glass, popping it’s head out for the trainer to pat. Ishimaru instinctively took a step back, not expecting it the come up so close. “Her name’s Makoto,” she continued, throwing a small fish at Makoto, who snapped it up immediately. Meanwhile, the human Makoto’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh, what a coincidence! Naegi-kun’s name is Makoto too!” Ishimaru beamed, patting his partner on the back. Naegi felt a mixture of embarrassment and pride at Ishimaru’s words and smiled and nodded at the trainer, who gave them an amused look. 

“It’s a good name!”

“Indeed!” 

Ishimaru and the trainer continued to make small talk as Naegi looked around and realised the seats were beginning to fill up. Tugging his friend’s sleeve, he pointed out that they should grab a seat soon before all the good ones got taken. Apologising and excusing themselves, the two went to find their seats.

“Where should we seat?” Ishimaru asked, looking at the front row seats expectantly. 

“Do you want to sit in front?” 

“Yes!” Ishimaru agreed enthusiastically, and Naegi took the opportunity to take his hand, ignoring the other’s flustered protests, and led him to one of the front row seats. They sat down and waited for the show to start, Naegi giving Ishimaru’s hand a small squeeze. Ishimaru squeezed back, looking straight ahead with a tense expression.  _ So cute. _ They had a small squeezing back-and-forth session before the lights on either side of the pool began to dim and the announcer, the trainer from before, stepped onto a platform in the center of the pool to announce the start of the long-awaited dolphin show. 

“Welcome to Kibougamine Aquarium!” A loud round of applause resounded from the audience as four dolphins swam into the pool and leapt into the air. The trainer began to introduce the dolphins, who swam around and waved at the audience with their flippers, eliciting cheers and squeals from the crowd.

“Look, it’s Makoto-kun!” Ishimaru pointed out a familiar-looking dolphin from the four as it swam and twirled close to the seats.

“I can’t tell,” Naegi laughed, trying to figure out if the dolphin he was looking at was Makoto.

The announcer later revealed that said familiar-looking dolphin was  _ not _ Makoto, and Ishimaru slinked back into his seat in shame and embarrassment as Naegi patted his back and comforted him - “They  _ do _ look similar!” However, Ishimaru had no time to wallow in self-pity, as the  _ real _ Makoto swam really close to the audience and did a flip, causing a huge splash that splattered onto the ‘lucky’ people sitting in the front row.

“Waaagh!” Naegi sputtered and laughed as he got drenched along with Ishimaru, who did not look the slightest bit pleased. The dolphins took turns jumping and splashing the rest of the unlucky people in front as the crowd cheered and screamed. Naegi looked over at his dripping wet friend, who was squeezing the ends of his uniform in an attempt to get some water out. He looked kind of dejected and Naegi felt his heart clench a bit at the sight. 

“Ishimaru-kun, I’m sorry about that.” Naegi whispered, trying to cheer him up. Ishimaru looked up at him, still with an unhappy look on his face. 

“Why? It’s not your fault.” Ishimaru’s grumpy expression changed into one of confusion as he tried to figure out why Naegi was taking the blame for a dolphin’s, or its trainer’s, actions. Finally, he thought of an answer, and his face lit up. “Oh! Is it because you have the same name? Haha!”

He was, of course, way off, and Naegi wondered how he had even come to that conclusion. But it was kind of endearing how off-the-mark he was, and a smile graced Naegi’s lips. At least he was laughing again. “That’s not it. I should have told you we might have gotten wet if we sat in front.” 

“Oh! ...Yes, you should have.” Came the reply, but Ishimaru was still smiling. That means he wasn’t mad, right? 

“Anyway! We should keep watching!” Naegi quickly changed the subject before Ishimaru could feel upset again, and Ishimaru made a noise that signified he had forgotten, and quickly turned his attention back to the show. The dolphins were diving and leaping to the beat of the music with synchronised movements. Their dance-like actions and movements mesmerised the crowd.

But Naegi was mesmerised by something, or rather, someone else. He glanced over at his partner, whose eyes sparkled like a child at their first dolphin show. 

“That one’s definitely Makoto-kun!” Ishimaru exclaimed when ‘Makoto’ did a complex and impressive somersault routine. He was completely enamoured with the performance, despite still being in range of the dolphins’ deadly splashes, but eventually found himself laughing along with Naegi and the rest of the crowd. Seeing Ishimaru laugh like that filled Naegi’s heart with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

All he wanted was for Ishimaru to enjoy himself like a normal student, and he would be satisfied. 

Eventually, the curtains had closed on the dolphin show, with the announcer bidding farewell to the guests and sending the dolphins back to their enclosure. Ishimaru had gotten a bit (very) emotional and teary-eyed at the end, bidding ‘Makoto-kun’ farewell while trying to contain his sniffles. 

After a quick trip to the bathroom to wash his face, Ishimaru had regained his composure, and was excitedly recalling the performance they had just watched. Naegi giggled along as he nodded, though he wasn’t really paying as much attention to Ishimaru’s words as he were to his energetic expression and gestures. 

_ So cute, _ Naegi thought as his partner went on a passionate speech about the bonds between dolphin and trainer. They continued strolling back into the aquarium building, before Ishimaru suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“Ishimaru-kun? What’s wrong?”

“What do we do now?”

“Huh?”

Ishimaru looked at his watch. “Well, we watched the dolphin show. Do we go home now?”

“Huuh?” Naegi’s eyes widened. “O-of course not! It’s still a while before the aquarium closes, so there’s plenty of time to walk around!” His voice rose in a moment of panic. 

“Is that so?” Ishimaru continued looking at his watch. Naegi felt his heart leap to his throat.  _ Was he busy?  _

Ishimaru finally raised his head to look at Naegi, beaming. “Well, let’s continue walking then! I was worried that Naegi-kun would want to leave.” 

“O-oh! No way! I wanna spend more time with you!” Naegi let out a sigh of relief, then smiled and grabbed onto Ishimaru’s arm, causing him to jump in surprise. “Let’s go! We still haven’t explored this part yet.” 

“Waaah! W-wait, Naegi-kun, if you hold my hand like that, people are going to assume things…” Ishimaru mumbled as the shorter boy dragged him to one of the corridors, though contradicting his words, he squeezed Naegi’s hand even tighter.

“Ehehe, it’s dark here, so stick to me so you don’t get lost!” Naegi led the hall monitor down a dark corridor with glowing, luminescent jellyfish lining the path. “They’re so pretty!” 

“T-they are!” Ishimaru could feel a blush creep up his face, so he was thankful the room was so dark. The soft glow of the jellyfish illuminated Naegi’s features just enough for Ishimaru to get distracted. It was strange. He’d never felt this way about someone before…

Naegi glanced over in his direction and Ishimaru let out a shocked gasp - Naegi had caught him staring.

“Is something on my face?” Naegi asked. It was unusual for Ishimaru to space out so much. 

“N-no! I was just, um, thinking about jellyfish. Weird creatures they are, hahaha!” Ishimaru replied, completely flustered. 

It was dim, but Naegi could make out hints of pink on his partner’s face. A quick glance around made Naegi realise they were alone in this area, just the two of them. Naegi swore he could hear the sound of his heartbeat amongst the bubbling. 

Naegi felt a bit bold.

“Actually, I think I see something on your cheek.” 

“Huh? Wha-“

Before Ishimaru could touch his face to check, Naegi approached him, tiptoed, leaned over, and-

_ Gave him a quick peck on the cheek. _

“Hehe, it was me! ...Just kidding.” Naegi pulled away, feeling the heat on his face as well. 

Ishimaru was unresponsive, his mouth agape as he stared at his partner. Oops. Maybe he  _ did _ take it too far this time?

“S-sorry, I-“

Before Naegi could apologise, Ishimaru took a hesitant step towards him, closed his eyes, and kissed the smaller boy on the forehead. Though it was more like he grazed his lips against his forehead rather than a kiss, Ishimaru immediately withdrew, covering his lips with his hand. Now it was Naegi’s turn to have his face completely flushed and mouth hanging open.

“A-ahh! I apologise, I just, what came over me-“ Ishimaru stuttered as he stumbled backwards, unable to meet Naegi’s gaze.

“N-no, I was the one who- but I- I’m really happy…” Naegi felt as if his heart was thumping like a freight train. Gently, he grasped Ishimaru’s hand again and pulled him closer. “I-I really love you, Ishimaru-kun!”

“Me- me too. I love Naegi-kun…” Ishimaru whispered back. The two gazed at each other amongst the cool glow of the jellyfish.

“I love you.”

“I love you..”

“I love you!”

“I-I love you.”

“I love you!”

“N-naegi-kun, isn’t that enough?” 

“Haha, sorry, I couldn’t help it…” Naegi smiled at the sight of the clearly embarrassed Ishimaru. “I just really love you…”

“T-that’s too many!” 

The pair continued to grip tightly on each other’s hands, basking in the cool light of the aquarium. However, their romantic moment was instantly shattered by the sound of shuffling feet.

Pulling away, Ishimaru frantically turned to the source of the noise, and came face to face with a familiar figure-

“K-Komaeda-senpai?!” Ishimaru sputtered, a horrified look on his face as he realised his senior had possibly watched the whole… thing… with Naegi unfold before him.

“Oh, don’t mind me. It must be my lucky day to witness such a hopeful sight!” Komaeda calmly replied, waving it off as if he were ignorant of the pair’s embarrassment. 

“H-how long were you watching?” Naegi inquired, equally flustered and scratching his cheek in a weak attempt to play it cool.

“Let me see… I was just wandering around when I saw you two kiss-”

“YOU SAW THE-” Ishimaru gasped out loud, before covering his mouth as he realised he was shouting. His face had somehow turned even redder than before, and Naegi tried to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

“Ahaha, don’t worry about it! I won’t judge. In fact, I fully support your wonderful relationship!” Komaeda continued with the compliments, laughing it off casually despite Ishimaru being on the verge of a breakdown. 

“Th- thanks…” Naegi replied hesitantly, unable to look his senior in the eye. All of his bravado from before had disappeared completely as he realised he had been caught by one of his schoolmates, no less. He gave the trembling Ishimaru a concerned look.

Naegi was rather surprised to see that Ishimaru appeared to be trembling in… frustration, rather than sadness - from the way his mouth was pursed into a frown and his eyebrows looking much more furrowed than usual. With the way he was shaking, he appeared to be about to explode any second.

“Komaeda-senpai! It… It’s rude to stare! You should have said something!” He sobbed, looking accusingly at his senior. 

“Ah, pardon my lack of manners. It was just such a beautiful scene, so I thought I should just leave you two alone.”

Ishimaru’s face was bright red, and Naegi wondered if it was due to frustration or embarrassment. He thought he should step in before Ishimaru started to give Komaeda one of his long lectures, and gently gripped and tugged his hand slightly. Ishimaru turned to face Naegi, his perplexed expression seemed like a cry for help.

How was Naegi going to save the two of them from this awkward encounter? 

“Um, we’ll be on our way now,” Naegi said, breaking the uncomfortable silence, and slowly dragged his partner away as he mustered up a smile at Komaeda. “See you around, senpai.” 

“Goodbye…” Ishimaru mumbled, bowing his head before quickly backing away from the upperclassman. 

Komaeda stood at his spot, smiled and waved them goodbye, cheerily telling them to enjoy the rest of their  _ date _ , causing their faces to redden even more. Naegi had never felt this much embarrassment in his life. The two of them could hear Komaeda murmuring something about hope as they made their way back to the room with the large cylindrical aquarium.

“Komaeda-senpai sure is something, huh?” Naegi nervously chuckled. He didn’t know why he was feeling tense, perhaps having his and Ishimaru’s usually low-key relationship being exposed like that made him feel somewhat self-conscious.

“I… can’t believe he saw it…” Ishimaru mumbled, hiding his face in his hands. “Me and Naegi-kun’s… I’m so embarrassed…” 

Naegi felt his heart clench. “I’m sorry, I should have held back…”

“N-no! I… I enjoyed it. Just that, when it comes to things like this, I am still lacking experience, but um…” Ishimaru slowly lowered his hands, just enough that his eyes could peek out and look at Naegi. “I’m very grateful that Naegi-kun invited me out today…”

The heaviness in Naegi’s heart had dissipated, hearing Ishimaru’s words comforted him greatly. He placed his palm over his chest. “I’m glad. Did you have fun?”

“I believe I had fun…” Ishimaru nodded, finally removing his hands from his face. He took a deep breath, faced his friend and bowed. “Thank you so much, Naegi-kun!”

“Wah! Ahaha, no problem!” Naegi laughed, bowing back instinctively. Feeling more comfortable now that the awkward tension seemed to have cleared, he held Ishimaru’s hand again and turned towards another corridor. “Then, shall we continue walking around?”

“Yes! That would be great!” Ishimaru’s eyes lit up as his shoulders relaxed slightly. The two of them took a few steps and were face to face with a display of colourful tropical fishes.

They froze.

“Naegi-kun, can fishes…” Ishimaru croaked, pointing a shaky finger at the tank. Two fishes were swirling around each other, and at certain moments appeared to be kissing. The feeling of their earlier blunder was still haunting them, it seemed.

“You know what, let’s just head back for today…” Naegi suggested, tilting Ishimaru’s head away from the smooching fishes. Ishimaru nodded wordlessly, still holding on to his partner’s hand, and the two of them slowly walked back to their dorms, the day’s events still fresh on their mind.  

**Author's Note:**

> ~fin~
> 
> (Get it? Fishes? Fins? Finish? Okay.)
> 
> When in doubt, add Komaeda! Thank you Komaeda!


End file.
